CCI approves acquisition of API Holdings Private Limited equity shareholding by CDPQ Private Equity Asia Pte. Ltd.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) approves acquisition by CDPQ Private Equity Asia Pte. Ltd. (‘CDPQ/Acquirer’) of equity shareholding of API Holdings Private Limited (‘API Holdings/Target’) under Section 31(1) of the Competition Act, 2002, today.

The combination envisages an acquisition of approximately 2% shareholding in the Target by the Acquirer along with certain additional rights.

The Acquirer is a wholly owned subsidiary of CDPQ and located in Singapore. CDPQ acts as an institutional investor that manages funds primarily for public and para-public pension and insurance plans. CDPQ is a Canadian institutional fund, which manages and serves more than 40 depositors which comprises public and private pension and insurance funds in Quebec.

API Holdings is a company incorporated in India and is the ultimate parent entity of the API Holdings group. API Holdings, either directly or through its subsidiaries, carries out various business activities inter alia including:

(a) wholesale and distribution of drugs (including pharmaceutical products, medical devices and over the counter drugs);

(b) provision of transportation services primarily focused on the pharmaceutical sector;

(c) owning technology and intellectual property for developing e-commerce platforms including marketplaces for facilitating the sale of pharmaceutical products, medical devices and OTC drugs;

(d) manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical, ayurvedic and nutraceutical products, medical devices, hygiene products, life-saving medicines, herbal products and food supplements;

(e) operating and providing an online application which provides a business to business (“B2B”) order management system for retailers and distributors of pharmaceutical products, medical devices and OTC drugs.

A detailed order of the CCI will follow.